


Like Shoes With Loose Laces

by spurious



Category: KAT-TUN (Band), NewS (Band)
Genre: M/M, community: je_ficgames
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-28
Updated: 2011-07-28
Packaged: 2017-10-21 22:16:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/230454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spurious/pseuds/spurious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jin and Yamapi are cast in the lead roles of a new drama.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like Shoes With Loose Laces

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the V6 Voyager prompt for team What-if for je_ficgames 2008 and originally posted [here.](http://je-ficgames.livejournal.com/10921.html) Thanks to Katie for wrestling this fic out of me, and to Ariel for encouragement.

"Pi, _Piiii_ , have they told you yet?" Jin's voice rings in Yamapi's ear so loudly that he has to hold the phone a little bit away from his ear.

"Told me what?"

"We're going to be in a drama together!"

Yamapi grins. "Oh, yeah, that. I've known for a few days."

"And you didn't tell me?" Jin's voice turns slightly shrill. "What kind of best friend _are_ you? And why did they tell you first?"

"Because they know I can keep a secret," Yamapi answers, laughing. "Listen, I have to go. See you tonight? We'll celebrate."

***

"They gave me a script," Jin says, sprawling out on his sofa while Yamapi tries to find an empty space to sit, "but I haven't looked at it yet."

Yamapi reaches over to the table, where said script is sitting, and smacks Jin's legs with it. Jin yelps and pulls his legs in, leaving a spot for Yamapi to sit.

"We're traveling salesmen," Yamapi says, thinking of the script he'd read the other day, "apparently there's going to be lots of on-location shooting. They told me every episode would highlight the special atmosphere of a different city."

"So we get to travel together?" Jin's eyes glitter with excitement. "Cool."

The drama is called _Ruteni_ , a "Taguchi-level pun," as Jin says, on the word for wandering warriors and the word for salesmen.

 

 **slippery road ahead**

 

The first place they need to go is Nagoya, and Jin manages to convince the person in charge of getting them there to let them drive by themselves. There's a dilemma, though, as to whose car they should take. Yamapi's car is smaller and less practical, but it's cooler and goes fast, so they end up in that one. They stop at the combini for snacks before they leave, loading up on coffee milk and assorted flavors of chips.

***

"I want to drive," Jin says, about two hours into the trip, as Yamapi tries to change the CD with one hand in a bag of chips, while making a right turn.

"No," Yamapi says, mouth full, "the last time I let you drive you made me spill coffee all over the upholstery."

"Are you seriously still mad about that? It was _years_ ago! I've improved my stopping skills since then."

"I'm not talking about that time," Yamapi says, "I'm talking about the time three weeks ago when you were trying out that 'new trick' you learned from Aya, where you stop really fast and hold out your arm to stop a girl from falling forward."

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Sure, only _I'm not a girl_."

"Whatever you say, Yama _pink_."

"It's a good thing I have an automatic now," Yamapi says, punching Jin in the shoulder, "or else I wouldn't have this hand free to hit you."

"Hey!" Jin whines, rubbing his shoulder, "no fair. I'm not allowed to hit the driver."

"If you'd followed the other rule of my car and not pissed off the driver, I wouldn't've had to hit you."

"Can I drive now?"

"No."

***

It's dark by the time they make it to their hotel in Nagoya, though they both put on sunglasses and hats before they walk in, go up to the front desk and check in under their director's name.

Their room has one big bed, and as soon as they're through the door, Jin strips down to his boxers and climbs under the covers, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Yamapi wanders into the bathroom, splashes water on his face and brushes his teeth. When he comes back out, Jin is flipping through the tv channels: there's some variety show, a news program, the Toshiba commercial that Yamapi shot two weeks ago, and a show about African lions. Jin settles on the lions as Yamapi fishes in his bag for his cell phone; it's almost past time to update his jweb. He types out a short musing on how big the world is and how many animals are in it and hits "send".

"Piiii," Jin says, using that whiny voice that means Yamapi isn't paying enough attention to him, "what are you doing?"

"Jweb," Yamapi answers. He finishes the mail he's writing to Ryo and then closes his phone. Jin is taking up most of the bed and Yamapi has to shove him over, leading to a small scuffle that ends with Yamapi covering Jin's face with a pillow while Jin screams and flails at him.

"As the lion stalks his prey," Yamapi says, poking Jin's ticklish spots, "the unsuspecting gazelle doesn't stand a chance."

"HEY," Jin flails harder, managing to push Yamapi off of him, "I am not a gazelle!"

"Right," Yamapi says, grinning, "you're more of a warthog, ne?"

Jin picks up a pillow and hits Yamapi in the face before he can dodge it.

***

Much to everyone's surprise, Jin and Yamapi arrive at the set a little early, brightness in their eyes a mix of excitement and the giant cups of coffee they're both holding. The directors introduce themselves, smiling brightly, and they're sent to wardrobe and makeup. The first scene calls for the two of them to wear suits, and they tie each other's ties, laughing excitedly. Jin ruffles Yamapi's hair right after the stylist has worked on setting it to that perfectly mussed look, and it has to be done again, so they're set back a little while.

It's a long day of filming, and the two of them are in most of the scenes; by the time they leave the set, it's getting dark, and they're both exhausted, but they go to a small local restaurant near their hotel to celebrate the first day anyway.

Yamapi updates his jweb in the car: _Konbachiwa!_

 _I spent today working with my best friend! Today was a good day._

***

Yamapi is too drunk to open their hotel room door, so he presses the key into Jin's hand while he leans against the door, grinning. When Jin opens the door, Yamapi stumbles into the room, off-balance, and lands on the end of the bed.

"C'mere," he slurs, toeing off his shoes. Jin follows the direction once he has his own shoes off, putting his knees on either side of Yamapi's lap and pushing him onto his back, lips on Yamapi's.

"Mmph," Yamapi says happily, tugging up the hem of Jin's shirt. His nails scrape slightly over Jin's skin, making him shiver and moan against Yamapi's mouth. Yamapi pulls more intently on the shirt, and Jin finally sits up, pulling it off and unbuttoning Yamapi's jeans. Yamapi's feet are still on the floor, and it's an awkward position, so he pushes Jin off and moves up the bed, taking off his shirt and pants in the process.

Jin is standing by the side of the bed, hand on his belt, staring distractedly at Yamapi. Impatient, Yamapi leans over and hooks his fingers in Jin's waistband, pulling him closer. Jin laughs, and as he finishes taking off his pants, Yamapi pushes the bedcovers down, climbing under them. Jin follows, stumbling slightly as he gets into bed.

As soon as Jin's under the covers, Yamapi climbs on top of him, bending down to crush their lips together. Jin reaches between them, pushing his hand into Yamapi's underwear and rolling his hips upward. Yamapi responds by rocking his hips forward, sucking hard on Jin's lower lip. Jin makes a strangled sound against Yamapi's mouth and moves faster, pushes up harder. He hooks his fingers in the waistband of his and Yamapi's underwear, pulls them down, and they both pull away to take shuddering breaths when their cocks touch, hot skin to hot skin. Yamapi sits up slightly, overheated, and pushes the covers down; Jin sits up with him, mouthing Yamapi's neck.

"Careful," Yamapi admonishes, voice tight, when Jin scrapes his teeth over Yamapi's rapidly beating pulse. Jin pulls away, breath heavy in Yamapi's ear, and scrapes his fingernails down Yamapi's back as they rock faster. Yamapi moans something incoherent, weight falling heavy on Jin's chest.

"Hey," Jin says, squirming, but his cock slips over the wetness between them and he gasps, motionless for a moment before relaxing back onto the bed.

The next morning, they fight over the shower, each blaming the other for falling asleep and leaving them in a sticky mess all night.

***

On the second day of filming, Yamapi has a (very serious) line that sends Jin into hysterics every time he says it, which gets Yamapi laughing, too.

"Okay, guys," the director says, nerves frayed, "guys! You have to be serious, okay?"

Jin and Yamapi manage to school their expressions into serious faces, until they look at each other and Jin starts giggling again.

The director sighs. "I'm going to give you two five minutes to get it together," he says, and walks away, muttering under his breath, "after that, I don't know what I'll do..."

***

They drive back to Tokyo the next morning (Yamapi still does not let Jin drive) and go straight to an interview with TV Guide, the first in a series of people asking them questions about how it is to work together, being such good friends already.

 _Are you excited to be working together?_  
Akanishi: Yeah! It’s been fun so far.  
Yamashita: I’m very excited. I was a little worried at first but I think it will turn out well.

 _Is there anything you two have learned about each other while working together?_  
Yamashita: Jin sucks at memorizing lines.  
Akanishi: Pi wears a wig. (Laughs)

***

The rest of the first episode is filmed in studio sets. Most of their co-actors are middle aged women, playing the housewives they’re trying to sell things to, and, other than the way Jin sometimes flirts with them while they’re eating lunch, they don’t really talk much. The only people on the set around their age are the staff, so Yamapi and Jin tend to keep to themselves.

Yamapi likes to read over his script before each scene, to make sure he has all of his lines right, but Jin’s more confident, more ready to joke around right before they have to film. Yamapi wants to tell Jin that he needs time to get into character, but sounds lame, somehow. Instead, he takes to hiding in the bathroom right before big scenes.

 

 **one way**

 

Yamapi decides that Jin is no longer allowed to be navigator when they get lost on the way to Shizuoka, veering off toward the seaside.

“If you let me drive,” Jin says, staring out at the sea, “this wouldn’t happen.”

“Right,” Yamapi answers, “but I value my car’s upholstery more than a half hour of lost time.”

“That was _one time_!”

***

Jin had read about Shizuoka on the internet; there’s a port that brings in a good haul of shrimp every year, so they go out for sushi and beer the first night they’re there. Jin spends the entire walk back to their hotel explaining to Yamapi why the English word for _kuruma ebi_ isn’t “car shrimp.” Yamapi, if asked, could not replicate this explanation.

***

Their second day in Shizuoka is the night the show’s first episode airs. The director lets everyone go a little early so they can watch it, and Yamapi and Jin stop at the combini for a six pack on their way back to the hotel. On the way, Yamapi updates his jweb: _Konbachiwa!_

 __Ruteni _airs tonight! Be sure to watch ne~_

They make it back just minutes before the show starts, sliding under the bedcovers with their beer bottles, when they realize they don’t have a bottle opener.

“Don’t worry,” Jin says, “I do this all the time.” He pulls a lighter from his pocket and holds it to one of the caps, nudging it off. Yamapi looks at him quizzically as he opens the other.

“You do this all the time?”

“Shut up,” Jin laughs, “it’s starting.”

“You’re teaching me how to do that on the next bottle,” Yamapi says as the opening scene begins. They’re quiet for a while, until the first commercial airs.

“It’s weird watching ourselves while we’re together,” Jin says, staring into his bottle.

“During Nobuta--” Yamapi starts to say, stopping mid-sentence, “um.”

“I’m getting another beer,” Jin says, acting like he hasn’t heard, “do you want one?”

Yamapi nods, pretending to be interested in a commercial for some new model of phone. As Jin climbs back into bed, his cold toes brush against Yamapi’s ankles. Yamapi shivers.

“Cold!” Yamapi jerks his foot away, and Jin slides cool fingertips up Yamapi’s shirt, tickling him.

***

“We won’t be able to see anything at a scenic overlook right now,” Yamapi says, “it’s the middle of the night.”

“But there won’t be anyone else there, ne,” Jin answers, smirking, “don’t you think a car kind of seems like a locked room?”

“Yeah, only smaller,” Yamapi says sarcastically, but he’s steering the car toward the turnoff anyway.

Jin’s right, there’s no one else there, and Yamapi barely has the car in park before Jin’s hand is in his hair and he’s pressing his lips to Yamapi’s. Yamapi makes a muffled sound against Jin’s mouth, one hand still on the gear shift, as Jin reaches for Yamapi’s belt.

“Jin, what are you--” Yamapi says breathlessly, raising his hips so Jin can pull his pants down his thighs, “we don’t have a lot of room in here.”

Jin doesn’t answer, just kisses Yamapi again and wraps a hand around his cock. Yamapi’s even more confused when Jin pulls away from the kiss, ducking his head into the space between Yamapi and the steering wheel and pressing his wet lips to the tip of Yamapi’s cock.

“Oh,” Yamapi says, voice choked, “I’m glad you didn’t do this while I was driving.”

“I’ve always wanted to try that,” Jin replies, breath hot on Yamapi’s cock.

“Watch the upholstery,” Yamapi says, nudging Jin’s head back down with a hand in his hair. He feels Jin’s laughter reverberating in his throat, leans his head back on the seat, eyes closed, enjoying the slide of Jin’s tongue over the underside of his cock. Jin’s mouth is warm and wet, tight around him, and Yamapi can’t help but thrust shallowly up a few times, breath hitching as Jin sucks harder.

Yamapi’s groggy and breathless when he comes, unable to keep his eyes totally open. Jin tucks him back into his jeans, wiping his mouth on his sleeve, and grins.

“Looks like you’re too tired to drive now, ne. Don’t worry, I can take over.”

***

They have to do a crosstalk about the drama for Duet, sitting in a room with a photographer and a list of topics they’re supposed to casually reference in their unscripted discussion.

Yamashita: We’ve spent so much time together the past few weeks, it feels like we don’t have must to talk about.  
Akanishi: Yeah, it’s kind of like...how about we talk to other people for a change? (Laughs)  
Yamashita: We’re becoming like a couple or something. The other day Jin’s mom called me when she couldn’t reach him.  
Akanishi: You didn’t tell me about that!  
Yamashita: My conversations with your mom are private. (Laughs)

 

 **no u-turn**

 

Yamapi falls asleep on Jin’s shoulder on the plane ride to Sapporo, leaving a spot of drool on the shoulder of Jin’s shirt. Jin retaliates by writing “IDIOT” on Yamapi’s forehead in marker.

“Yamashita-san,” the makeup artist says, tentative, “what’s that on your forehead?”

“What,” Yamapi says, looking troubled. Jin shakes with the force of suppressed laughter as the makeup artist leads Yamapi to the mirror, pointing to the large characters on his forehead. “What,” he says again, this time looking at Jin.

“You drooled on me!” Jin is laughing out loud now. “That’s what you get!”

Yamapi spends twenty minutes in the bathroom, forehead red from scrubbing when he comes out.

Jin wakes up the next morning with “BIGGEST IDIOT” written on his forehead. That night, he tries to put “I HAVE SEX WITH ANIMALS” on Yamapi’s face, but it doesn’t quite fit, so he’s left with “I HAVE SEX WITH AN”.

“Please,” the director says in a tone that reminds Jin of Kame on a bad day, “stop writing on each other’s faces.”

“Jin started it!” Yamapi says at the same time as Jin’s saying “He brought it upon himself!”

“I don’t care,” the director answers, “just. Please try to behave like adults from now on.”

“Besides,” Yamapi mutters as they walk away, “the only animal I have sex with is your mom.”

***

The mid-october weather is sliding slowly towards fall, but Sapporo is colder than Tokyo. They go shopping and Yamapi picks a leather jacket, makes an excited post in his jweb with a picture.

"You buy a new leather jacket _every_ winter, Pi," Jin says disinterestedly, examining a pair of sunglasses that would cover at least half of his face. "Isn't the point of a leather jacket supposed to be letting it get all worn out?"

"Those are girl's sunglasses," Yamapi says, paying for the jacket with a slightly sour look on his face.

***

Jin gets drunk on the flight home, taking advantage of the "perks" of flying first class.

"Let's fuck in the bathroom," he whispers, lips close to Yamapi's ear, knuckles rubbing against his thigh in some failed parody of subtlety that sends a jolt of arousal through Yamapi's body anyway.

"No," Yamapi hisses, batting Jin's hand away.

"C'mon, Pi, it would be really hot." Jin's voice in his ear is giving Yamapi goosebumps, making him shift uncomfortably in his seat. He considers the option for a moment, then reaches over and grabs Jin's drink, downing it quickly.

"I'll see you in a minute," Yamapi mutters before he gets up and makes his way to the bathroom. He waits for what seems like a long time, nervous and turned on, until there's a knock on the door and he hears Jin's voice.

"Hey," Jin says when he pushes his way in, licking his lips and pushing Yamapi back against the sink.

"Do you even have a condom?" Yamapi asks, breath hitching as Jin starts groping him through his jeans.

"Yeah," Jin answers, and starts digging in his pockets. Yamapi reaches between them and unbuttons Jin's jeans, noticing in the process that he's not wearing underwear.

"You planned this," Yamapi says, torn between amusement and annoyance, "you could have warned me."

"Spontaneity is more romantic, ne," Jin answers, holding up a condom and a small tube of lube with a smirk on his face that Yamapi has to kiss him to get rid of.

It's rushed, frenzied, and before Yamapi even knows what's happening he's bent over the sink with two of Jin's fingers in him and Jin's lips on his ear. He fists his cock, saying Jin's name in a voice that comes out breathier than he'd like, and then Jin is pushing into him and they're both moaning. Yamapi has to let go of his cock in favor of holding himself up as Jin starts fucking him, but Jin's hand is around his cock as soon as he lets go, stroking in time with his thrusts. Yamapi is surprised by how soon he's close, pushing back against Jin and shivering when he comes.

"Fuck, Pi," Jin groans in his ear, shuddering breaths getting faster and faster until he comes.

Jin leaves the bathroom first, creeping back to his seat, face flushed and hair mussed, grinning. Yamapi is just glad to notice that most of their fellow passengers seem to be asleep or too distracted to pay attention to the two of them.

***

“Someday,” Jin says, half-drunk and half-sleep deprived, sitting on Yamapi’s floor, “I’ll take you to L.A. and show you around.”

“Mmm,” Yamapi answers, pressing his lips to the corner of Jin’s mouth.

 

 **stop**

 

Yamapi’s phone beeps while he's driving on their way to Nagano, out of reach. Jin grabs it, flipping it open.

“Jin, please--”

“Oh, mail from Ryo-chan!” Jin pauses, grinning. “He says ‘So, do you want to kill Bakanishi yet?’”

“Tell him ‘yes.’” Yamapi replies in a tight voice, squeezing the steering wheel.

Jin types: _Akanishi Jin-sama is the sexiest, funniest, most awesome man on the planet, and is also ten thousand times better in bed than you, skinny monkey._

He hits "send" and looks up: "If you let me drive you could use the phone all you want, you know."

***

Yamapi checks the drama's ratings obsessively on his phone, mentally comparing them to everything he's ever been in.

"We're doing well," he says, shaking Jin awake in their hotel room.

"Five more minutes," is Jin's sleepy reply. Yamapi pokes him a few more times, then slides fingers through his hair. Jin makes a quiet, pleased sound, turning into the touch, so Yamapi keeps doing it, settling back into bed and mumbling something about how Jin should have been born a house cat.

***

When the staff tell them that they’re going to film a driving scene, Yamapi moves to get in the driver’s seat. He’s corrected, told that _Jin_ will be driving the car, and his reaction sends Jin into crowing hysterics for about five minutes.

On the way to their hotel room, Jin is still talking about how he’s the one they trusted with the car. Yamapi grumbles, fingers tightening around the steering wheel.

***

While they're getting ready to leave, late the next day, Jin gets ahold of the keys on pretense of putting their stuff in the car while Yamapi checks them out. He realizes his mistake as soon as he's out the door and he sees his car running, not where he left it, with a grinning Jin behind the wheel. He approaches the car on the driver's side, standing outside the locked door with his arms crossed until Jin rolls down the window.

"I want to drive," Jin says, just as Yamapi says, "You are not driving."

They stare each other down for a few minutes.

"I'm not getting in the car until you hand me the keys," Yamapi says, mouth set in an angry line.

"You know what," Jin says, finally, getting out of the car and grabbing his bag from the back, "fine. Drive your stupid car wherever you want; I'll just take the train."

"There aren't any trains leaving this late, dumbass," Yamapi yells as he gets into the car. Jin keeps walking away, and Yamapi has to follow him for a block before he gets into the car, seething.

Yamapi turns up the stereo to drown out the heavy silence that settles between them.

 

 **road narrows**

 

Yamapi sends Jin a text message to tell him that he'll be taking the shinkansen to Osaka; he doesn't have time to drive. Jin doesn't reply, which isn't really a surprise to Yamapi, and he's almost startled when he sees Jin walking into the same train car as he's sitting in. Their eyes meet for a second before they look away and Jin takes a seat as far away from Yamapi as possible.

Yamapi nods off in his seat, expecting to see Jin sitting next to him every time he wakes up.

***

Conveniently, they're more split up for filming this episode than they have been so far: Jin spends a lot of the filming time in Kyoto, with Yamapi staying in Osaka. Ryo's in Osaka then too, working with Kanjani8, so they go out for yakiniku. Yamapi resolves not to complain about Jin, but that resolution fails after his third beer.

"He always wants to drive," Yamapi slurs. "It's so annoying!"

"Have you ever let him drive?" Ryo asks, clearly trying to sound diplomatic.

"No," Yamapi huffs, sounds slightly scandalized, "I have my manly pride."

"You're both idiots," Ryo says, flagging down the waiter for another round.

The next morning, Yamapi wakes up on Ryo's sofa with a pounding headache and a hard-on. _Dammit, Jin_ , he thinks.

 

 **do not enter**

 

The most frustrating thing about fighting with Jin, Yamapi thinks as he watches the country fly by on the way to Hiroshima, is not being able to talk to his best friend.

Yamapi's stomach rumbles.

Well, that, he thinks, and not being able to eat Jin's mom's cooking.

***

They have to share a hotel room (thankfully with separate beds), and Yamapi's reminded of the time, years ago, when they'd fought over something he doesn't even remember, now. Jin had been staying over at Yamapi's house for the weekend while his mom and sister were away visiting his grandparents, and they'd had an argument. After Jin stormed out, Yamapi realized he was left alone in his house. Jin lived the closest to him, and he didn't even give it a second thought before he rode his bike over and asked Jin's mom if he could stay the night. He had fallen asleep in Jin's bed because he knew it would make him angry, and they'd ended up not speaking to each other for three months.

They settle into their beds in the dark silence, and Yamapi lies awake, trying to remember what it was that he and Jin had fought about that time. He's no closer to remembering when he hears a rustling, then the sound of a hitched breath, across the room. Yamapi knows the sounds; Jin's never been good at keeping quiet. He must think Yamapi is asleep. Yamapi is considering saying something, contemplating how embarrassed Jin might be (probably not enough; he has no shame), when he hears a small, muffled moan, and is suddenly uncomfortably aroused.

 _If Jin can do it,_ Yamapi thinks as he slides a hand into his boxers, _so can I._

As Yamapi strokes himself, he imagines Jin watching him do it, imagines tying Jin to a chair or something and teasing him until he's all breathless little whimpers and wordless begging. He imagines sliding his cock into Jin's mouth, watching it disappear between Jin's lips, holding Jin by the hair and making him take it.

Yamapi doesn't notice he's making noise until he's almost too far gone to quiet down, biting his lip and pressing his face against the pillow while he listens to Jin's breathing speeding up, the strangled sound Jin makes when he comes.

Yamapi realizes, moments before he comes, that Jin knew he was awake, that Jin did this on purpose, and he can't figure out if that makes it more or less hot.

 

 **wrong way**

 

Fukuoka is where the relationship between their characters finally catches up to their own. They have some of the same problems (they've been stuck together for too long, travel is stressful), and some totally different ones (Jin's character wants to stay in one place, Jin never does), but the scene where they confront each other and yell it out is one of the easiest scenes they've had to film in the past three episodes. They're just supposed to shout at each other, but before anyone stops them they've got their hands fisted in each other's collars and Yamapi's pushed Jin up against a wall.

When the director calls "cut," compliments them on the energy of the scene, there's a long, tense moment before they let go and move apart.

***

Yamapi gets a call from Ryo just before lunch, while he's carefully picking everything Jin likes out of their sushi bento.

"Are you still not speaking?" Ryo says, sounding annoyed, after he asks how Jin is and Yamapi says he doesn't know.

"He used up all of my shampoo," Yamapi complains, stuffing a piece of shrimp into his mouth.

"I can't believe you two haven't been speaking for, what is it? Three weeks now?"

"Two and a half."

"Whatever. I can't believe you're seriously fighting for this long over you not letting Jin drive the car."

Yamapi knows, deep down, that that's not _really_ what this is about, but he doesn't say that.

 

 **slow**

 

Yamapi likes to think he's a professional. He likes to think he can ignore problems in his personal life to focus on work, especially acting. Usually, he can, but when he has to work with the embodiment of all of his current personal problems, it makes it a little bit harder to compartmentalize.

He and Jin barely speak to each other on the set, and Yamapi tries to push his annoyance to the side when they're on camera, tries not to let it get in the way. He's worked with Ryo before while they were fighting, and it was hard, but Yamapi could handle it. Jin, though, is different: in the carefully ordered spaces of Yamapi's life, Jin is one of the people who falls firmly outside of the "work" space. It's almost impossible to push down the things he feels around Jin. When they weren't fighting, it was fine; their characters are supposed to be best friends, so there could be slippage.

Now, it's a problem.

"As much as I appreciate you guys finally not messing around all the time," the director begins, after one particularly uncomfortable scene, "it's getting kind of obvious that you're angry with each other."

Jin and Yamapi look at the ground, mumbling apologies.

"Look," the director says, sounding worried, "you need to work this out. I'm going to call it a day and I want you two to go eat dinner together or something. Just talk to each other."

***

They take a cab back to the hotel, awkward and quiet. Jin wants to take a shower, so Yamapi waits, sprawled on the bed, pretending to watch tv. He finds himself thinking about the scene they'd filmed in Fukuoka, how satisfying it had felt to shove Jin up against the wall, get right in his face, and then, suddenly, his imagination shifts back further, to the night in Hiroshima.

That's when Jin comes out of the shower, wet hair curling dark around his face, skin flushed from the hot water. He's got a towel wrapped around his waist and one in his hand, and Yamapi can see the line of hair trailing down from his navel before it disappears under the towel.

"Jin," Yamapi says, voice low, "come here."

Jin smirks, walking across the room to his bag. "No."

Yamapi gets up, crosses the room and backs Jin into the wall. He doesn't have a shirt to grab, so Yamapi settles for his hair. Jin looks challengingly at him, licking his lips.

"Asshole," Yamapi says, and then he kisses Jin, _hard._ Jin kisses back, stepping away from the wall and walking Yamapi backward until they stumble into the bed, breathless. Jin straddles Yamapi's lap, the towel falling open when his thighs part. He nips at Yamapi's lower lip, pulling his shirt up and scraping his nails up Yamapi's torso in the process. Once his shirt is off, Yamapi turns them over so Jin's on his back, moaning when Yamapi rolls his hips against him. After another minute of kissing and grinding, Yamapi pulls back, breathing hard, to work on taking off his jeans. Jin sits up with him, kissing his way up Yamapi's stomach to flick his tongue over a nipple, making Yamapi gasp and stumble backward while he steps out of his jeans.

"Do you have...?" Yamapi trails off when Jin squeezes him through his underwear.

"Always prepared," Jin says, pointing to his bag. Yamapi rummages around for lube and a condom, and Jin follows him, hooking his thumbs in Yamapi's underwear, kissing his neck.

"You're such a distraction," Yamapi mumbles, leaning back against Jin's warm body. He can feel the exhalation of Jin's laughter in his ear just as he's pushing Yamapi's underwear down off his hips, palming his cock on the way.

"You like it," Jin says. He walks backwards, pulling Yamapi by the wrist, until they're back on the bed and kissing again. Yamapi's on top until Jin turns them over, planting his knees on either side of Yamapi's hips. Yamapi tugs on Jin's hair, pulling his head back, and Jin responds with a scrape of his fingernails down Yamapi's back. Yamapi turns them again, settling between Jin's legs while he reaches for the lube. He can feel Jin watching him, eyes dark and half-lidded, while he coats his fingers in lube, nudging Jin's legs further apart.

Yamapi sees the challenge in Jin's eyes even when he's arching his back and moaning as Yamapi slides his fingers into him. Sex is always a little competitive for them, but Yamapi feels like it's amped up, now. He curls his fingers upward, feels Jin trying to resist the stimulation and be the one who's less turned on, and that just makes Yamapi tease more, trying to draw a whimper or a moan or a plea from Jin's lips.

What he gets instead is Jin sitting up, shoving Yamapi onto his back and rolling the condom down his cock. Yamapi barely has time to catch his breath before he's fully inside Jin, who's smirking, self-satisfied.

"If you want something done right," Jin says, using his hands on Yamapi's shoulders to push himself up, "I guess you have to do it yourself."

"Shut up," Yamapi replies, pulling Jin down to kiss him. He thrusts up, feeling Jin's muffled moan against his mouth. Jin's hair, still slightly damp, sticks to both of their faces as they move against each other. Yamapi slides his hands down Jin's back, grabbing his ass and thrusting up into him hard and fast. Jin bites down on Yamapi's lower lip before breaking the kiss to take a shuddering breath and suck on Yamapi's earlobe.

Yamapi makes a strangled noise, half arousal and half frustration at the fact that he can't get good leverage in this position as Jin sits up, throwing his head back and taking Yamapi's cock deeper. He moves deliberately, lifting himself up and then back down again, breathing fast, and it gets harder and harder for Yamapi to take the teasingly slow pace, so he sits up quickly, shoving Jin backward and thrusting into him hard. Jin takes it with a smirk, wrapping his legs around Yamapi's waist to pull him closer.

From then on, Yamapi doesn't think about the competition, just puts all of his energy into each thrust; all he can think about is how good Jin feels, how good _this_ feels. He feels Jin reaching between them to fist his own cock and knows that Jin's forgotten about it too, forgotten in favor of moaning, open-mouthed, against Yamapi's collarbone.

Jin comes first, but Yamapi's too far gone to make a snide comment; he comes a few moments later, anyway, collapsing boneless on top of Jin.

"Pi," Jin says, squirming uncomfortably, "you're heavy."

"Mmph," says Yamapi, rolling off of Jin with much difficulty. Yamapi's just about to fall asleep when he remembers that they were going to dinner.

"Hey," he says, poking at Jin, who's also on the verge of sleep, "hey, what do you want to eat?"

 

 **crossroad**

 

They go on a morning news show in the beginning of the week the last episode is supposed to air.

"So," the friendly female interviewer begins, " _Ruteni_ 's last episode airs this friday! Our guests this morning are NEWS's Yamashita Tomohisa and KAT-TUN's Akanishi Jin, the show's stars."

"Thank you for having us," they both say, bowing.

"It seems you two are very close friends outside of work as well. How has it been working together?"

There's a pause as they both consider the question. Yamapi speaks first.

"It can be surprisingly hard to work with a friend. There were times when we fought, but I think we've both learned a lot."

Jin nods. "There are ways you can act spoiled with your friends that you can't with people you're working with, ne."

***

It's a five-hour drive to Sendai, and it's not top-down weather, not really, but they're wearing coats, so Yamapi doesn't complain when Jin puts the top down as soon as he's sitting behind the wheel of Yamapi's car. The wind whips around them as Jin accelerates onto the highway, laughing.

"I'm not going to be able to read the map like this," Yamapi shouts.

"Map?" Jin yells back, grinning, "I threw away the map!"


End file.
